Spring hinge



Oct. 6, 1953 sco -r 2,654,118

SPRING HINGE Filed May 5, 1950 Patented Oct. 6, 1953 SPRING HINGEMichael H. Scott, Evansville, Ind., assignor to International HarvesterCompany, a corporation of New Jersey Application May 5, 1950, Serial No.160,348

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a spring hinge particularly adapted forhinging an evaporator door to the cabinet of a household refrigerator.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a door with a novelspring hinge which will automatically close the door from a partly openposition and will hold the door open when in a fully open position.

Another object is to provide a door with a spring hinge in which aspring is so mounted that it will be deflected as the door is opened,thus producing a force of sufficient strength to close the doorautomatically.

A further object is to provide a spring hinge which is cheap tomanufacture, simple in construction, strong and durable and effective inoperation.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from a reading of the following description inconjunction with the drawings attached hereto and forming a part hereofinwhich:

Fig. l is a view in elevation of a portion of a refrigerator evaporatordoor equipped with the novel spring hinge as viewed from the interior ofthe refrigerator cabinet.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the spring hinge and door assembly.

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the spring.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional View taken K on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the door in its fully openedposition.

Illustrated in the drawing by reference numeral i is a portion of theouter wall or door pan of a vertical hinged door which is particularlyadapted for closing the evaporator storage compartment of a householdrefrigerator. This outer door pan is formed from sheet metal and isstamped into the shape of a hollow pan having a front portion ll, sidewall l2, top wall [3 and bottom wall i 4. A finished door would haveinsulation placed between said walls with a back panel fastened [to theedges of said walls, but for purposes of illustration, only the outerdoor pan I0 is shown. I

Hinge leaves l are spaced apart on the inner side of side wall I2 andattached thereto by rivets l6. These leaves are formed from sheet metaland are provided with knuckles I! which project through slots formed inside wall l2. Pivot pins or pintles it are press fitted into theknuckles H.

A hinge butt l9 fits between the leaves l5. This butt is formed fromsheet metal and is provided with knuckles into which the pintles i8 ro-2 tatively fit. Slots 2! are formed in butt [9 into which screws arepositioned for adjustably securing said butt to a refrigerator cabinet.

A U-shaped bracket 22 is punched out of hinge butt I9 into which a,spring 23 is secured. The spring 23 is in the form of a spring rod andis constructed from stainless steel spring wire. The spring could be astraight spring rod but in the illustrated embodiment it is formed intoa semielliptic shape having a central portion 33 and end portions 26 and21 which are bent back on a smaller radius than the semi-ellipticportion. The side wall i2 has upper and lower portions 24 bumpedinwardly. Vertical disposed holes or sockets 25 are provided in portions24 into which the end portions of spring 23 fit. The sockets 25 areslightly larger than the spring di ameter so that the end portions 26and 27 are free to rotate and to slide up or down. The bracket 22 islarge enough to allow the center portion 33 of the spring torotatefreely therein.

In Fig. 3 the longitudinal length of spring 23 while in closed doorposition is indicated by reference numeral 30. As the door is opened thecenter portion 33 will be held in place by bracket 24 while the endportions 26 and 2'? will be swung away from the closed door positioninto the deflected position as shown by dotted lines and indicated byreference numeral 32. This will cause the end portions 26 and 27 toapproach each other, thus shortening the longitudinal length of thespring to a length indicated as 3!. The spring will be free to assumethis deflected position since the end portions 26 and 2'! are free toslide and rotate in sockets 25 and the center portion 33 is free torotate in bracket .22. If desired, lubricant may be placed in thebracket and sockets in order to insure smooth and quiet operation.

In Fig. 4 reference number 35 indicates the axis about which the door I0rotates, 28 indicates the center of the center portion 33 of the spring23 in bracket 22 and 29 indicates the center of end portions 26 and 2'!in socket 25. The center 29 is located an angular distance of slightlymore than from center 28 about axis 35. When the door is in closedposition the distance between centers 28 and'ZB is great enough toslightly deflect spring 23, thus causing a moment about axis 35 in adirection and of sufficient magni-tude to hold the door tightly closed.

As the door 10 is opened, center 29 will swing about axis 35 and thedistance between centers 28 and 29 will increase. This will cause agreater deflection of spring 23 which will, in turn, in-

crease the moment for closing the door. Before the door reaches thefully open position of 90 degrees center 29 will pass through deadcenter. In Fig. 4, dead center is indicated by a line through axis 35and center 28. Therefore, as the door reaches fully open position of 90degrees, the resultant force of spring 23 will be acting on the oppositeside of axis 35 and will hold the door open. When the door is in thefully open position of 90 degrees, spring 23 contacts the edge 34 ofhinge butt l9, thus providing astop for preventing the door from openingany further.

In the present construction, there is thus provided a spring hingearrangement for a door in which a semi-elliptic spring produces a forcewhich will automatically close the door from a partly open position. Thespring arrangement will also hold the door in fully open position, andas the door is then forced closed, it is only necessary to force thedoor past dead center, whereupon the spring will complete the closing ofthe door.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has herein been describedand illustrated,

it should be understood that various changes and modifications may bemade and incorporated within the scope of the annexed claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cabinet structure, the combination comprising, a door having afront panel and an integrally formed side portion at a right anglethereto, a pair of spaced apart hinge leaves secured to the outersurface of said side portion between the side thereof cooperating withsaid front panel and the outer marginal edge thereof, said leaves havingpintles projecting therefrom, a hinge butt having an L-shaped crosssection, the first leg of said hinge butt being provided with knuckles,each of said knuckles being positioned at the outer marginal edge and atthe longitudinal extremities of said first leg, said knuckles beingrotatably journaled on said pintles, the second leg of said hinge butthaving slots therein so that said second leg is mountable to saidcabinet, whereby said first leg lies substantially in a plane parallelto the plane in cluding said front panel and perpendicular to the planeincluding said side portion and whereby said second leg liessubstantially in a plane perpendicular to said plane including saidfront panel and parallel to said plane including said side portion whensaid door is in the closed, position, and whereby said first leg liessubstantially in a plane perpendicular to the plane including said frontpanel and parallel to the plane including said side portion and wherebysaid second leg lies substantially in a plane parallel to said planeincluding said front panel and perpendicular to said plane includingsaid side portion when said door is in the open position, said secondleg further having a bracket formed on the inner side thereof, springmeans for holding said door in its fully opened and closed positions,said means including a spring rod having a semi-elliptical centralsection rotatably journaled in said bracket, said side portion furtherformed to have a pair of bumped out portions projecting from the innersurface thereof, said bumped out portions having holes therein and beingpositioned on the inner surface of said side portion at pointsrearwardly of said pintles with respect to said front panel, the ends ofsaid spring rod being slidably and rotatably positioned within saidbumped out portions and through said holes, said bracket beingpositioned at a point on said second leg so that a portion of saidspring rod abuts the outer marginal edge of said first leg and so thatthe portion of said spring rod disposed within said bracket and the endsof said spring lie in a plane positioned forwardly of said pintles withrespect to said front panel when said door is in the open position,whereby said spring rod is tensioned in all positions of said door, andwhereby the tension of said spring rod maintains the door in the openand closed positions.

2. In a cabinet structure, the combination comprising, a door having afront panel and an integrally formed side panel at a right anglethereto, a pair of spaced apart hinge leaves secured to the outersurface of said side panel between the outer marginal edge thereof andthe side thereof cooperating with said front panel, said leaves havingpintles projecting therefrom, a hinge butt having an L-shaped crosssection, the first leg of said hinge butt being provided with knuckles,each of said knuckles being positioned at the outer marginal edge and atthe longitudinal extremities of said first leg, said knuckles beingrotatably journaled on said pintles, the second leg of said hinge butthaving slots therein so that said second leg is mountable against saidcabinet, said second leg further formed to have a bracket on the innerside thereof, a substantially straight rod formed of a resilientmaterial whereby said rod tends to assume said substantially straightposition, the center of said rod being rotatably journaled in saidbracket, said side panel further formed to have a pair of bumped outportions projecting from the inner surface thereof, said bumped outportions having holes therein and being positioned on the inner surfaceof said side panel at points rearwardly of said pintles with respect tosaid front panel, the ends of said rod being slidably and rotatablypositioned within said bumped out portions and through said holes, saidbracket being positioned at a point on said second leg so that a portionof said rod abuts the outer marginal edge of said first leg and so thatthe portion of said spring rod disposed within said bracket and the endsof said rod lie in a plane positioned forwardly of said pintles withrespect to said front panel when said door is in the open position,whereby said spring rod is tensioned in all positions of said door, andwhereby the tension of said spring rod maintains the door in the openand closed positions.

MICHAEL H. SCO'I'I.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,100,987 Pratt June 23, 1914 1,292,725 Dexter Jan. 28, 19191,327,065 Shields Jan. 6, 1920 2,105,071 Bowers Jan. 11, 1938 2,134,993Wimmenauer Nov. 1, 1938 2,255,534 Roethel Sept. 9, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 395,343 France Feb. 20, 1909

